NEW ORLEANS -- The two-coach, split-personality, one-act family play went off Friday with Jim and John Harbaugh staying in perfect character.

John, the Baltimore coach, wore a sleek, dark suit and was garrulous, gracious and funny during this unprecedented combo news conference, two days before the brothers will face each other as head coaches in Super Bowl XLVII.

Jim, the 49ers coach, wore his standard black sweater, khaki pants and 49ers baseball cap, and was terse and a bit tense.

You are who you are, probably especially in the presence of someone who knows you best. And it's silly to fake anything else.

Example: John led Jim onto the stage and then acted as emcee, issuing a smooth 176-word introduction welcoming everybody, pointing out all the Harbaugh family members in attendance and talking about sharing the Saints' practice site with the 49ers this week.

After that, John turned to Jim, who gave an uncomfortable shrug -- at both his brother and the audience -- and said flatly: "I concur."

The room broke out in laughter, as did John. But Jim didn't, because I'm pretty sure it was a serious answer and as complete as he wanted it.

Seconds later, when they were asked about their shared habit of taking risks, Jim Harbaugh turned it into a long stemwinder detailing the highlights of the 49ers' entire season. Which, of course, was not what he was asked.

When Jim finished, John grinned and quipped: "I concur."

Again, the place erupted in laughter, and again, Jim just stared blankly.

It wasn't a Harbaugh deadpan, it was just pure reaction: He's not here to goof around and he was happy to let his older brother perform the snappier parts of the show.

"Philosophical commonalities?" Jim Harbaugh repeated sharply when he was asked to name similarities between the brothers. "I would be hard-pressed to spell 'philosophical' right now."

John added: "I know he can't spell 'commonalities.' "

And so it went on -- after five consecutive days of relatively cordial and successful dealings with the Super Bowl media, Jim Harbaugh was on a stage he didn't want to be on, faced with the brother-vs.-brother storyline he most wanted to avoid.

He agreed to do the event, so he did it, and it's OK that it's not in his nature to give fake enthusiasm for something that is uninteresting to him.

John has fun in these situations, so he let himself have some fun Friday, and it would've been wrong for him to change his mood to fit his brother's reticence.

It's who they are naturally, and it's certainly good for both that neither tried to veer from their true character.

They've got a rather important game to play Sunday, you know? If either coach had performed with false biorhythms on that stage, you can bet some of their players would've picked up on it.

Instead, the two big personalities sounded like equal and opposite halves -- or thirds, counting their sister Joani, who wasn't there -- of a raucous sibling rivalry/bond.

Jack Harbaugh, who dabbed back tears at the end while he watched his two sons pose for pictures near the Lombardi Trophy, said he loved all the repartee.

"At some point in my career I learned you have to be who you are," Jack Harbaugh said. "I see John and Jim doing that. They are who they are. And it's very clear, but that's the beauty of it, that they choose to be that way."

John is the diplomatic older brother used to smoothing out his brother's rougher edges; Jim is the star athlete and instinctual football savant who's immediately skeptical of any elaborately staged circumstance.

Together, they clearly have similar coaching styles and principles.

John pointed out how much he loves his brother's ability to quote Shakespeare; Jim thanked his brother for hiring Jim's oldest son, Jay, as a staff member.

But on a stage together, they can't help but showcase their contrasts. Same DNA, different wiring, similar football results.

"You know what it does? It shows how similar they are," Jack Harbaugh explained.

"I understand that -- how are they different? Is he this, is he that? But they are so, so much alike. They could've sat there, one could've answered one question, the other could've answered the other one and it would've been the 'concur' back and forth. That's what I took out of it, the similarities that they have with each other."

You had to look real hard to see that, but Jack Harbaugh is correct.

On the surface, his two sons interact with the outside world in entirely different ways, with entirely different levels of patience and enthusiasm.

But they're both here, both one victory away from a Super Bowl title, and both so hungry to get it that they're not about to change their personalities on their way to the end goal.